Electric power and gas power are the common types of power provided by a utility company. Commercial, industrial, and residential users of power each receive a report over a specified period of time that delineates the amount of power or fuel consumed, and the amount of power consumed is converted into a billing sent to the user for payment.
As the cost of traditional energy sources continue to rise, an increased emphasis has been placed on renewable energy sources to thereby reduce the need for power from traditional energy providers. While the use of renewable energy sources increases, there are certain obstacles that still prevent renewable energy sources from being fully integrated with traditional energy sources. In short, the current infrastructure for public utilities is not conducive to incorporating such renewable energy sources for purposes of providing a single integrated billing for customers. Presently, renewable energy sources require separate devices/systems to measure the amount of power that is drawn from such sources, and further, a separate interface is then required to take the measured power from the renewable energy sources to integrate retrieved data in the billing system of the utility provider.
Therefore, there is clearly a need for an energy consumption billing system that integrates both the traditional energy sources as well as renewable energy sources. Further, there is a need to incorporate the renewable energy sources in a manner in which not only can a user receive the periodic billing that shows the value of the renewable energy source, but also a need to provide the user real time information as to the value of the renewable energy source as time progresses over the billing period.
Therefore, it is one object of the present invention to provide a comprehensive energy consumption billing system. It is another object to provide a method that generates detailed data as to the cost of the traditional energy sources. It is another object to provide a method that generates detailed data as to the value of the renewable energy source in reducing the cost of the traditional or primary energy sources. It is another object of the present invention to provide real time data as to a measurement of the value of the renewable energy source based upon the current consumption billing structure and rates of the primary energy sources. It is another object of the present invention to provide a user the ability to observe and control in maximizing the contribution of the renewable energy sources in reducing the cost of the primary energy sources.
These objects as well as others will become more apparent from a review of the following description of the invention.